Brown leads praise for Smith
09 Feb 2010 - 15:09:40
Motherwell welcome the SPL leaders to Fir Park and the Gers boss will hope to see his side at least maintain their 10-point lead over Old Firm rivals Celtic at the top of the table.
While added spice to the game comes in the shape of Brown's number two Archie Knox, who was Smith's assistant when he led Rangers to nine titles in a row, the Well manager was unstinting in his praise of his counterpart.
"With his achievement at Rangers, and to a lesser extent with the Scotland team, I put Walter along with the great Scottish legends like Jock Stein, Alex Ferguson and Jim McLean," he said.
"In that bracket I also like to include Bob Shankly, who got to the semi-final of the European Cup and won the championship with Dundee.
"Walter has done so much in Scottish football. You are talking about an outstanding manager and Archie will confirm that.
"Archie was with him for seven of Rangers' nine titles and he speaks so highly of him.
"He is also highly regarded in England. Walter had an excellent spell at Everton where the financial constraints became so much the job became almost impossible.
"In the nine-in-a-row period, Rangers were able to sign Terry Butcher, Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup, but he is not able to sign anyone like that now.
"I'll not name the comparable signings because they are not in the hunt with these guys. So, enormous credit to him for what he has done in the past and what he is doing at present.
"Walter, Archie and myself were coaches in Mexico with Alex Ferguson when he managed Scotland at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
"So we have shared the knowledge of the master and hopefully the result will be apparent on Wednesday with a good quality game.
"Walter's side are 10 points clear at the top and although I hope they don't stretch that on Wednesday, they are favourites for the championship."
Brown has rejuvenated Motherwell since taking over from Jim Gannon at the turn of the year.
The former Scotland boss won the Clydesdale Bank manager of the month award for January after helping Motherwell collect 10 points from a possible 12 and is looking for his side to continue their good form against Rangers.
"We are doing okay but we are keeping our feet on the ground," he said.
"We have managed to get 13 points out of 15, which is good, and the game where we lost the two points was Falkirk, where we had to play half the game with a man short.
"They showed the resilience which will be needed against Rangers. "
